


Split Second

by ficletsandthelike (schulia_jet)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen, flexible Lance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-29
Updated: 2018-04-29
Packaged: 2019-04-29 17:42:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 893
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14477871
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/schulia_jet/pseuds/ficletsandthelike
Summary: When the paladins are caught on a Galra base, it takes a lot of strength and a little flexibility for them to escape.





	Split Second

Lance never thought much of his flexibility. It was good for the occasional spotlight in gym class, but out in the middle of space, there wasn’t much use for splits; at least, that was what he assumed.

They had just arrived at a planet swarming with Galran troops, and Allura had tasked them with locating and stealing a vital and extraordinarily rare chemical for the ship. Pidge swooped in, invisible, to give an estimate on the force Voltron would have to face.

“Looks like we’ve got a formidable army here,” the green paladin’s voice crackled over the comms. Lance cracked his knuckles and smirked.

“Big? Yes. Formidable? Not for Voltron, defender of the freaking universe!” Lance quipped. He could practically hear Keith rolling his eyes from across the sky, but Shiro spoke before anyone could respond.

“Thanks, Pidge. Keith, join her and try to head in towards the heart of the base without being spotted. I’ll give a signal, and you both will fight outwards while Lance, Hunk and I take out the edges.” Red sped into the strange greenery of the landscape, and the remaining lions took positions around the massive puzzle of violet structures. “Steady…” Shiro said in a low voice. “Go!”

Instantly, clouds of smoke rose from the centermost building and mighty roars echoed through the air. Lance veered straight down, sending a bright laser from his lion’s mouth to explode several miles below. He whooped and landed triumphantly, leaping out to assist Shiro and Hunk.

His eyes widened in shock at the gruesome scene in front of him; hundreds of Galran soldiers snarled and swiped like feral animals at his fellow paladins while robots shot purple blitzes of light from a distance. 

“They have underground bunkers?!” Pidge’s panicked voice sounded. Lance regretted his dramatic entrance, as he was bombarded with violet claws. He managed to pick off a few with his bayard, but the short distance combat soon had him overwhelmed, and he was forced roughly to the ground.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lance cracked open his eyes, groaning at his throbbing temple. Blurry shapes settled into the rest of the team in various stages of worry around what seemed to be some sort of cell. Shiro noticed his awakening and helped him to his feet.

“We need to figure out a way to escape without garnering attention. There’s too many to fight on our own, but if we can make it to our lions, we can form Voltron and take this place down,” Shiro explained. They each stood for a moment, lost in thought, until Pidge smacked her fist into her hand conclusively. “I’ve got it! Shiro, would you be able to lift the door with your arm?” The black paladin furrowed his brow and turned to face the door, Galran limb illuminating. He placed both hands at the bottom seam and pulled.

The cell door creaked, the sound magnified by the silent tension. It edged open one inch, then another, until a dim glow creeped along the walls. The prison was suspiciously devoid of supervision, so the paladins kept their guard up as they slid into a hallway and followed their bonds to find the color-coded cats.

It had been only been a couple of minutes, but the time seemed to lag into hours. Lance was about to make a pointed sigh when Hunk did a double take and trotted to a room a few feet back.

“Hang on a second,” he whispered. He peered in the small window, then swooped inside to grab a vial of liquid. “It’s the chemical thing that Allura wanted,” the yellow paladin breathed. He plucked the container from the tray, but much to Team Voltron’s chagrin, a siren pierced through the heavy atmosphere.

“Move! Move!” Shiro yelled, all cautiousness forgotten. Metallic footsteps clanged behind the now sprinting team, interspersed with high pitched laser shots. They exploded through a set of massive gates, nearly crying out with relief to see their lions shielded and undamaged.

Lance dashed in front of Hunk, strides ahead of the larger boy. The blue paladin skidded to a stop in front of Blue and whipped around to face the robots rapidly approaching, bayard activating.

It happened in slow motion. A brilliant amethyst bullet struck Hunk’s right hand, sending the precious liquid spiraling to the ground. Gun abandoned, Lance dove, and immediately realized he was short.

He rolled and caught on his elbows, performing a magnificient split in the air to feel the triumph of glass safe at the edge of his foot. “Grab it, Hunk! Let’s go!” Lance cried after a beat. He felt Hunk snatch the vial and lept up, collecting his bayard and hopping into his lion. “Let’s dance, beautiful,” Lance grinned.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Voltron skidded to a stop outside the burning base, and the paladins took a moment to catch their breath. 

“That was a little too close for comfort,” Keith remarked. “Hate to agree with Keith, but that was, in fact, kind of terrifying,” Lance agreed. “Hey, Lance, speaking of which, are you okay? That split looked pretty painful back there,” Shiro asked, a hint of concern coloring his tone. The Cuban smiled and boasted, “Just peachy. I’m practically a circus freak when it comes to flexibility, and…” he paused for effect. “That’s not the only thing I can get freaky with.”

A chorus of groans filled the comms.

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this all the way back when the motion comic was coming out... I remember how we were all up in arms about the way Dreamworks treated Lance's character. Now I couldn't be more grateful for the growth they've let him have. There's a silver lining to everything, huh?


End file.
